This application is related to the following commonly assigned and copending United States patent applications filed on the same date herewith and which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety:
xe2x80x9cStorage Device Apparatus Having Multiple Interfacesxe2x80x9d by Daniel J. Winarski, Jesse L. Trall, Rodney J. Means, John E. Kulakowski; and
xe2x80x9cGripper Assembly Apparatus for Interfacing with a Storage Devicexe2x80x9d by Daniel J. Winarski, Jesse L. Trall, Rodney J. Means, John E. Kulakowski.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automated library system including a gripper assembly apparatus for interfacing with a storage device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A tape library is comprised of multiple tape cartridges that may be separately accessed and handled by a robotic gripper assembly. The gripper assembly is capable of moving the tape cartridges between one or more racks of storage cells in which the cartridges are stored and a tape drive. If a user wants to access data on a tape cartridge in a cell, then the robotic gripper assembly must remove a tape cartridge from one tape drive, move the dismounted tape cartridge to one storage cell, move the gripper assembly to the storage cell to access the requested tape cartridge, and then transfer the cartridge to the tape drive for mounting and data access.
Tape libraries allow for storage of substantial amounts of data at a low cost. However, dismounting a tape cartridge from one drive and mounting another tape cartridge from the rack of cells can take a substantial amount of time. Such delays in providing an application access to data in an unmounted tape cartridge can adversely affect the performance of the application.
Due to concerns over the time required to mount tapes in a tape library, tape library developers continually strive to reduce cycle time. The cycle time indicates the time for the gripper assembly to dismount a tape from a current tape drive, return the tape cartridge to its assigned storage cell, access the requested tape cartridge from another cell, and then move and insert the accessed tape cartridge into one of the tape drives.
For these reasons, there is a need in the art to provide improved technology for providing a library of storage devices.
Provided is a library system apparatus including an array of storage cells and a plurality of storage devices. The storage devices include a storage medium and a data interface through which data on the storage medium is transferred. A gripper assembly includes extended members capable of engaging one storage device, movement electronics capable of moving the gripper assembly to the storage cells and engaging one storage device located within one storage cell, and a data interface. Data communication is enabled between the gripper assembly and storage device data interfaces when the gripper assembly is engaged with the storage device. Further, a library controller is in communication with the gripper assembly and executes logic to receive an input/output (I/O) request with respect to data in one target storage device in one storage cell and send commands to the gripper assembly to move to the storage cell including the target storage device and engage the target storage device in the storage cell. Data related to the I/O request is transferred between the target storage device and the library controller via the gripper assembly and storage device data interface.
In further implementations, the gripper assembly and storage devices include power interfaces, wherein the gripper assembly supplies power to the storage device through the storage device power interface when engaged with the storage device.
In still further implementations, library system may also include at least one device interface unit capable of engaging with the storage device, wherein data communication is enabled between the device interface unit when the device interface unit is engaged with the storage device. In such case, the control logic executed by the library controller further performs sending a command to the gripper assembly to move the engaged target storage device from the storage cell to the device interface unit to engage the storage device with the device interface unit.
Yet further, the storage device may further include a housing and first and second data interfaces at different locations on the housing. In such case, the gripper assembly data interface is capable of engaging the storage device at the first data interface while the device interface unit is engaging the storage device at the second data interface.
The described implementations provide an automated tape library including a gripper assembly that is capable of interfacing with a storage device to communicate power and data to the storage device, such as a hard disk drive. With the described implementations, the gripper assembly may begin providing power and allowing I/O requests to be transmitted to the storage device while the storage device is transferred en route to a drive interface on the library backplane. This arrangement allows communication with the storage device without the delay of having to transfer the storage device to an available drive interface on the library backplane.